


A Pale Line of Flesh

by iamconfounded



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-04 05:32:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2954114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamconfounded/pseuds/iamconfounded
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens if you're the only one there for your kinda-friend and co-worker on the worst day of his life?  </p><p>An AU where Danny and Christina are still married while Danny is a partner at Schulman and Associates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in an AU where Danny and Christina are still married while Danny is a partner at Schulman and Associates. Timeline-wise it’s probably sometime in Season 1? I struggled a little to find Danny and Mindy, so if they’re a bit OOC – my apologies. 
> 
> This is my first-ever TMP fic, so please be gentle!

Danny was late. Mindy hadn’t seen him on the subway, but that wasn’t unusual. They weren’t always on the same train. But now it was 9:15 and he had a patient waiting and he was officially late. To say that Danny was obsessive about punctuality would not be overstating things, so if Danny was late something was up. She asked Shauna if she’d heard from him, but Shauna just shook her head and shrugged. Mindy had no more time to contemplate Danny’s comings and goings though; she had patients of her own to see. 

At some point during the morning Danny must have arrived, because when Mindy emerged from her office just before lunch, Danny was standing at reception, reviewing a file. He exchanged a few brief words with Betsy, glanced up at Mindy and then lowered his eyes back to his file. Thinking back to his tardiness this morning, she considered Danny carefully, her eyes narrowing as she scanned his face. He looked tired, his mouth turned down at the corners, but most concerning was the lack of expression in his eyes. Danny might be a grumpy bugger much of the time, but he never lacked passion. The man could deliver a 20 minute rant about salami, for god’s sake, and today he seemed…flat. She was still watching him when he turned and walked slowly back to his office without another word.

The rest of the day passed quickly in a flurry of appointments, but more than once Mindy noticed Danny moving like a robot through his day. He didn’t go to the gym and he didn’t complain when Morgan used the last of his milk in the fridge to feed a cat on the fire escape. Who the hell was this person? Mindy thought to herself. At the end of the day she couldn’t stand it anymore. She strode purposefully over to his office, gave a cursory knock, and was halfway in the door at Danny’s half-hearted, “Come in.” She could see the wary look in Danny’s eyes as she shut the door behind her.

“Okay Danny. Spill it.” Mindy stood with her arms folded, giving Danny what she liked to think of as her “tough but beautiful female detective in a crime series” look.

“Spill what? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Danny mumbled, dropping his eyes to the paperwork on his desk.

“That’s crap Danny. You’ve barely spoken all day, including when the deli guy brought you a California health wrap instead of pastrami. You just ate it. You ate a wrap. And it had sprouts on it Danny. SPROUTS!” Mindy pointed her finger accusingly at him. Mindy crossed her arms again, fully prepared for a blast of Danny’s ire about how she needed to mind her own business and stop cataloguing his every move like some stalker because they weren’t even friends, but it never came. He just rubbed his hands over his face, and said, 

“I’m just tired Mindy, okay. I’m going home.” He came around the desk, shrugged himself in to his coat, and left without another word.

“Well shit,” Mindy said aloud. This was worse than she thought.

***

Mindy sat on her couch, trying desperately to lose herself in the ridiculous melodrama unfolding on her TV. But she couldn’t stop thinking about how Danny had looked leaving the office today. Whatever was going on with him probably wasn’t any of her business. Well okay she thought everything that happened to her co-workers was her business, but they didn’t always agree. And admittedly she and Danny weren’t really friends. They bickered a lot, and sometimes they could grudgingly agree on a TV show to watch in the doctor’s lounge, and Mindy frequently forced Danny to listen to the latest updates from her celebrity gossip blogs on the subway. So whatever that made them. Almost friends? More than co-workers? Whatever was going on with Danny he would have real friends to talk to. Or Christina. That’s what life partners were for, right? Sharing your intimate hopes and dreams and fears and whatever?

After a moment’s hesitation she picked up the phone and dialed Danny’s number, but all she got was his gravelly voice telling her to leave a message. Jesus even his voicemail sounded grumpy. She left a slightly bumbling message telling him she was just double checking if he was okay, and urging him to call her if he needed anything, and put her phone down purposefully. She’d done what she could. There were other people in Danny’s life who could help him other than his kind-of-not-friend from the office.

But when Mindy thought about it, she wasn’t actually sure than Danny had a lot of friends. He worked constantly, and never talked about going anywhere with anyone. And what if Christina was away on one of her work trips? She seemed to leave for weeks at a time and what if she was gone and Danny was choosing now to have a major life crisis?

Sighing, Mindy pulled herself up off the couch and moved towards the door, stuffing her feet in to sneakers and grabbing her coat and bag as a she went. 

***

By the time Mindy got to Danny’s door, she was having serious second thoughts. She’d been to Danny and Christina’s apartment exactly once before, when Christina (she had no illusions it had been Danny’s idea) had invited all the partners over for a dinner party. Now it was 11pm on a Tuesday and she was standing at Danny Castellano’s door in her sweatpants, about to barge in and force him to talk about his feelings. If Christina answered the door this was going to be really awkward. Hell, if Danny answered the door this was going to be awkward. Steeling herself with an internal fuck it, she knocked on the door. Much to her surprise the door swung inward a bit at the pressure of her knock. What the hell?

Mindy slowly pushed the door open a bit further and her hand flew to her mouth with a gasp. The apartment looked like it had been ransacked. There was broken glass and papers on the floor, an overturned table, and what looked like feathers on most of the surfaces. She hesitated for a second, wondering if whatever potentially dangerous thugs who’d done this were still around. When she didn’t hear anything she moved cautiously in to the apartment, but pulled out her phone so she could dial 911 if she had to. She made her way slowly through the apartment, feeling more and more confused as she went. What kind of thieves left a flat screen TV and a laptop behind? As she glanced in to the bedroom she grew even more confused. The bed was destroyed. It looked like someone had attacked it with a knife. The sheets looked shredded, and the source of the feathers became clear as she took in the eviscerated pillows on the floor. 

The moan coming from behind the couch almost made her jump out of her skin. She peered cautiously around the back of it, her heart pounding. When she saw Danny’s prone form on the floor she dropped her bag and ran to crouch down beside him.  
“Omigod, Danny! Danny! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” she babbled at him, as she checked his pulse and examined him for injuries. He groaned again as she continued to check him over, and Mindy began to calm a bit as her medical training took over. That and the fact that she could find no obvious injuries on Danny except some grazed knuckles. As she examined his hands more closely, she noticed something else; a pale band of flesh on his left ring finger.

Oh shit.

She looked at the scene around her with fresh eyes, and for the first time also took in the distinctly alcoholic fug around Danny. He hadn’t been beaten to unconsciousness by thugs; he was dead drunk, and the absence of his wedding ring was giving her a pretty good clue as to why. Sighing, she headed to the bathroom for some wet cloths and a glass of water. Several minutes of bathing his face with a cold cloth and chafing his hand while she called his name, and Danny finally fluttered those ridiculously long lashes of his and gazed blearily up at Mindy.

“Mindy?” Danny slurred, blinking up at her in confusion, “Whatchu dooin here?”

“Taking care of your sorry ass, that’s what. I came by to check on you and stumbled in to this whole mess,” Mindy replied, a little sharply. She thought again about that pale band of skin on his finger and softened her tone, “Come on. I’m going to get you cleaned up a bit and you’re going to get some rest.”

“I’m fine,” Danny mumbled, head lolling a bit on his shoulders.

“You are not fine. You smell like a distillery, you are fully dressed, including tie and shoes, and are lying on top of what appears to be miniature Zen garden. This is not how you’re spending the night” Mindy tugged his tie loose and began to unbutton his shirt. She succeeded in getting Danny down to a t-shirt and dress pants despite his occasional weak protestations, and decided there was no way she was attempting the pants. He was still mostly unconscious and she could envision no scenario where her getting pants off a drunk Danny didn’t end in humiliation and possible minor injuries for them both. She tapped him gently on the cheek to bring him a little closer to consciousness.

“Come on Danny. Up we go,” she heaved as hard as she could, and with a little help from Danny she managed to get him to his feet. “Time for bed mister,” she said as she guided him over to where she’d cleared a spot on the feather-strewn disaster that had been his queen-sized bed.

“NO!” Danny lurched away from her and she almost lost her grip on him completely, the two of them stumbling awkwardly away from the bed. “I can’t sleep there,” Danny slurred, “I can’t sleep there. I can’t,“ he repeated.

“Okay, okay. Couch it is then.” Mindy was baffled, but she was too tired to argue, so she just helped him slowly to the living room. Once he was safely ensconced on the couch, lying on his side, bucket on the floor beside him, and covered with a blanket, Mindy stood and surveyed the scene again. Whatever had happened here had not been good. She had never seen Danny like this, and now that she wasn’t occupied with taking care of his physical state, she stopped to consider his emotional one. She didn’t know exactly how long Danny and Christina had been married, but they’d been together since high school, so if she was gone…Mindy bit her lip and glanced down at Danny, snoring softly on the couch. 

For the second time that night she decided to do something she thought she’d probably regret. She went in search of a blanket that hadn’t fallen victim to what she now assumed was Danny’s attack, noting the large empty space in the master closet. She finally found an old blanket and a mostly intact pillow, and dragged them to the large armchair in the living room. She curled herself up as best she could, already cursing the crick in her neck she was going to wake up to. With one last glance at Danny to reassure herself he was breathing well, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to the fandom for the encouraging comments on my first chapter of my first TMP fic. You guys are awesome!

Danny was still snoring when Mindy woke to the light streaming in the large living room windows. She stretched tentatively, confirming the sore neck as expected. She stumbled to the bathroom, and emerged a few moments later, hair corralled in a ponytail and with some ibuprofen and water for Danny. She set it on the floor beside him, and turned her attention to the rest of the apartment. After a brief search she found a broom and dustpan and got to work on the broken glass. 

Her life had clearly gone terribly wrong somewhere between last night and this morning. She was cleaning (ugh!) and it wasn’t even her mess. If there were any justice in this world she would only be cleaning broken glass as a result of her devastatingly handsome date being overwhelmed with lust and sweeping their beautiful candlelit dinner to the floor to make room to ravage her on the dining room table. Even then it seemed like someone else should clean up in that scenario, no? Daniel fucking Castellano had better appreciate what a good kinda-friend and co-worker she was being right now. And that appreciation had better come in multiple forms that included salty, sweet, sparkly and scented.

***

Danny opened one eye, and immediately regretted it as the bright light from the window hit and pain knifed through his head. He squeezed both eyes shut and concentrated on not moving to try to quell the nausea he felt welling up in his stomach. He tried to will himself back to sleep, but there was a persistent shuffling noise that seemed devastatingly loud to his poor abused head. What the hell was that noise? It felt like someone was scraping out his skull with a spoon. He steeled himself and opened his eyes, ignoring the shooting pain and trying instead to focus his eyes on whatever was making that sound. After a moment’s effort his eyes came to rest on a figure puttering around in his kitchen. Was that…? No. Why would she…? He squeezed his eyes shut again, unable to make sense of what he was seeing.

Mindy Lahiri was in his kitchen, and she appeared to be…cleaning?

What in the hell had happened last night that Mindy was now in his apartment? He knew he’d drank way too much, and he remembered trashing a bunch of his and Christina’s stuff, but after that it was a blank. He was having a hard time imagining the scenario that would have brought Mindy here though. A panicked thought crossed his mind, and he lifted up the blanket and glanced down to see that he was still mostly dressed. He exhaled a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“Um, Mindy?” Danny croaked.

“SHIT!” Mindy exclaimed, dropping the dustpan she’d been holding, “you scared me.” She turned to look at Danny, still prone on the couch, his hand shielding his eyes from the sunlight streaming in the window.

“Sorry,” Danny said. He fell silent, wrestling with what to say next. He settled on “Um, why are you at my apartment?” which was perhaps a bit direct, but he was dying to know what had gone on the previous night.

“Oh, well, um, you seemed really weird yesterday? And I was kind of worried? So I called but you didn’t answer and so I came over to check on you and found you passed out on the floor. I didn’t want you to, like, aspirate on your own vomit or anything ‘cause I wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt, you know? So I, um, stayed,” Mindy finished lamely.

Danny didn’t say anything for a moment, as his addled brain struggled with the fact that this woman, who was little more than his co-worker really, had come over here to check on him. Not only that, but she’d stayed when she thought he needed someone to take care of him. He was touched by her concern, and totally humiliated by the fact she had seen him in…whatever state he’d been in last night. What had he said? Had he told her about Christina? Oh God he hoped not. He didn’t think he could bear her feeling sorry for him.

“Uh, well, thanks for that. I’m fine now though so you can go home,” Danny mumbled, suddenly feeling incredibly uncomfortable and exposed.

“Nope.”

“Sorry?” Danny inquired, “Did you say nope?”

“That’s right. I dealt with your pathetic ass last night, and I have a kink in my neck from sleeping in your chair, and I am cleaning a mess that is not mine. So you are taking me to breakfast after you get cleaned up. You look terrible. Seriously.” Mindy stared at him, as if daring him to contradict her, “I already called the office and told Betsy to cancel our appointments today,” she finished.

“You called the office and told them neither of us would be in today!?” Danny’s voice held a note of what could only be called hysteria. “What will they think we’re doing?”

Mindy rolled her eyes at him. “Who cares? Now get moving. I’m hungry and based on my extensive scientific research on the subject, you are going to require at least ten minutes on the floor of your shower before you are ready to join the land of the living. There’s ibuprofen on the floor next to you. Time to haul ass, Castellano.”

Danny was mumbling something about bossy co-workers as he got slowly to his feet, pain pills in hand. Mindy might have been right about the 10 minutes in his shower though. It was only his pride that kept him from practically crawling to the bathroom he felt so awful. He shuffled slowly out of the room, painfully aware of Mindy watching his slow progress critically.

***

“Jesus Castellano! What are you doing in there?” Mindy called impatiently. “My already tiny frame is wasting away out here!” She made her way to the bedroom door and rapped lightly, not really waiting for Danny to respond before peeking around the door. “Pancakes, man. I need….pancakes…”she trailed off, taking in the sight of Danny standing at the side of his bed, staring at the tornado of ruined bed sheets and feathers like it contained the answer to all of life’s mysteries. He didn’t seem to hear her enter, so lost was he in his own thoughts. Mindy stood still and quiet for a few moments, just watching Danny. He didn’t move or say anything, but he didn’t have to. The pain was coming off of him in waves, and Mindy suddenly felt very nervous that she was here, in Danny’s apartment, clearly bearing witness to something she didn’t think he’d ever want anyone to see. Shit, shit, shit, she didn’t know what to do. Should she leave? No, she couldn’t leave. Danny was really messed up and somehow she knew he’d be way too stubborn to tell anyone else what was going on. But they couldn’t just stand here all day either. Resolved, she cleared her throat and tried a gentle, “Danny?”

His head snapped towards her and his face flooded with colour as he realized where they were and what he was doing. “Uh, yeah, um we can go.” He grabbed his jacket of a chair and strode purposefully out of the room, brushing past Mindy as he went. 

Oh boy, this was going to be interesting, Mindy thought to herself.

***

Danny barely spoke at breakfast, ordering only coffee and dry toast, and wincing slightly every time Mindy tried to force him to share her breakfast with claims of fat and heavy carbs being good for a hangover. 

“Mmmm, Danny you do not know what you’re missing. These pancakes are to die for. Bacon inside the pancake batter Danny. INSIDE. Freakin’ genius. Maple bacon pancakes with maple syrup and a side of bacon. This is what the afterlife must be like Danny. Maple and bacon together in harmony, and maybe some kind of hunky man-servant to feed it to me.” She leaned back and sighed contentedly, examining him critically from under one raised eyebrow. 

Danny fiddled awkwardly with his fork and said nothing. He was trying really hard to be grateful to Mindy for caring enough to look after him last night, but the truth was he didn’t think he’d felt worse in his life. Physically he was a mess, albeit entirely self-inflicted, emotionally he was a complete disaster, with a veritable shopping list of negative human emotions to choose from, and he was sitting across from his co-worker Mindy, whom he struggled to relate to on the best of days. The truth was she made him so nervous when she was around. She was so open with everyone and she always wanted to know what was going on with him, and he felt like he never knew what to say around her. Danny didn’t really like or trust most people, and he was way more comfortable keeping them at a distance. But Mindy. Mindy did not allow that. She poked and prodded at his edges and boundaries, and somehow he knew that if she did that today, the boundaries would disappear and he would fly in to a million pieces.

“Sooo, next up is bed shopping, right?” Mindy continued as though they were having a real conversation; as though Danny hadn’t been silent as a statue through the entire meal. “I need to go to my place first though. Two day-old sweatpants are fine for the diner, but shopping requires clean hair and a slammin’ outfit.

“What did you say?” Danny asked, clearly totally confused. “Bed shopping?”

“Well yeah. You are both unwilling and unable to sleep in your current bed for reasons I’m not totally clear on, but that obviously relate to the giant, life-changing thing of yours we’re not discussing. And you can’t sleep on your couch forever so…bed shopping,” she concluded, shrugging her shoulders.

“What thing? What are you talking about?” Danny responded, trying desperately for nonchalance and failing miserably. God please don’t let me be having this conversation, he thought to himself.

“Christina,” Mindy said softly, “I’m talking about Christina.”

For one moment Danny and Mindy locked gazes, and for a split second Mindy could swear she saw every ounce of hurt and fear he felt telegraphed through his eyes. Then he in the next instant he shuttered them, getting up from the table and fumbling with his wallet. 

“I have to go.” Danny mumbled, throwing some bills on the table between them, “Thanks for last night.” He walked quickly towards the exit, and Mindy was left with just an empty seat and the sound of the bell on the door jangling as he left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are seriously the best! Thanks again for all the encouragement! This bit is fluffier, so hopefully it hasn't gone off the rails. I think I get a bit carried away with Mindy...

There was really no other word for it. Danny was wallowing. He was face down on his couch, too tired and miserable to go to the gym, and too distracted by thoughts of Christina to read or watch TV. He just lay there, occasionally assaulted by mental images of a naked Christina, writing on top of another man. He wanted to scream or punch something one minute, and just prayed for oblivion the next.

He didn’t know how long he’d been there when he heard the pounding on the door, be he immediately resolved to ignore it. Whoever it was he was in no mood. He smashed a toss cushion over his head and pressed his face further in to the couch determinedly. But the pounding didn’t stop, and after a minute he heard muffled shouting coming through the door as well. Oh God. He knew that voice.

“DANIEL CASTELLANO YOU OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR RIGHT NOW!” Mindy hollered. “I am serious! If you don’t open this door right now I’m going to the super to tell him all about how you SEDUCED and IMPREGNATED me and left me with no health insurance and only a faded picture of us to remember you by, and how I rock our baby to sleep each night, WEEPING OVER OUR LOST LOVE!”

The door swung open violently, and Danny tugged Mindy inside the apartment with a growl and a “Jesus Christ Lahiri do you think you could say “impregnated” a little louder?”

“IMPREGNATED!” Mindy shouted, just as the door slammed closed.

Danny turned on her, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“What do I think I’m doing? WHAT DO I THINK I’M DOING? I AM NOT THE ONE WHO WALTZED OUT OF BREAKFAST WITH BARELY A GOODBYE AFTER I LOOKED AFTER YOUR DRUNK ASS LAST NIGHT! I AM NOT THE ONE WHO REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HIS MARRIAGE HAS ENDED , AND THAT IT’S AWFUL AND MAY ACTUALLY REQUIRE THE SUPPORT AND HELP OF ANOTHER HUMAN BEING TO GET THROUGH!” Mindy was pacing the floor and gesticulating wildly, all of her frustration at Danny from this morning bubbling out at once.

“Please stop shouting,” Danny begged. He had slumped back on his couch during her tirade, his head cradled in his hands. “My head really can’t take it.”

Mindy paused for a minute, hands on her hips. “Fine. I’ll stop shouting. But seriously Danny, you and I are going to talk about this. Because I’ve got news for you – you’re falling apart, and ignoring it is not going to make it go away. Also you are indebted to me for my selfless acts of heroism on your behalf and we need to discuss how you’re going to show your gratitude. There are a number of categories of gifts that I like. I can explain in detail later.”

The look on Danny’s face could only be described as incredulity. Who on earth was this woman? How had she managed to combine a selfless act of friendship with a demand for presents, and stand there looking at him in calm expectation, like if he would just do what she said everything would be okay? The truth was though, that Danny was pretty sure he didn’t know anything right now, and if he didn’t do what Mindy said, he wouldn’t know what to do at all. He rubbed his hands over his face.

“Okay,” he said quietly.

“Okay?” Mindy was actually dumbfounded that he’d agreed, but she recovered smoothly and plopped herself on the couch beside him.

“But I can’t…I don’t…I don’t really want to talk about it just yet, okay?” Danny said, muffled slightly by his hands still partially covering his face. “Let’s, um, just do the bed shopping thing you said earlier.” 

“Yes! Yes, that’s excellent,” Mindy jumped up enthusiastically, grabbing Danny’s hand and hauling him to his feet. “There is this great place in Soho that does all custom-made and seriously Danny their stuff is SO GORGEOUS, but like, manly gorgeous, you know. So your scotch drinking and Brando impressions won’t be unduly affected or anything. Let’s go.”

She was like a tornado, Danny thought, letting himself be dragged down the hall to the elevator. A bossy, crazed tornado that he seemed to be (kind of) voluntarily spending time with. But he had been with Christina for half his life, and without her he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. So why not this?

***

“Omigod Danny I want to die in this bed,” Mindy groaned in mock ecstasy as she squirmed and flopped on the display bed in the furniture showroom. “You need to get on this thing; it’s amazing.”

“I am not getting on that bed. There are, like, 22 pillows on it and I wouldn’t even fit. Why does anyone need this many pillows? Where do the people go?” Danny complained. “And for god’s sake Mindy stop moaning,” he hissed, “People are looking at us.”

“You’re just lucky I didn’t go full-on When Harry Met Sally on this thing.” Mindy declared, slowly extricating herself from the mountain of bedding and pillows she’d buried herself in. “You have to choose something Danny. You cannot sleep on your couch forever. I refuse to allow it. It gave you the most ridiculous bedhead I’ve ever seen last night.” Danny touched his hair self-consciously at her last statement and sighed resignedly, scanning the store again. He wouldn’t tell Mindy this, but he’d actually never bought furniture for himself before. Christina had always picked out the things for their place and he’d just gone along with it.

Sensing his indecision, Mindy jumped in. “Okay, so by my count there were two beds that you shrugged noncommittally at, which I’ll assume means “ I love it” in Danny-speak.” She made her way over to another display, Danny trailing in her wake. “This one is very ‘sophisticated lumberjack who can not only hunt and kill his own food, but knows the best wine to pair it with.’ It’s a good look, but I’m not sure it’s your look, you know?” Danny just stared at her like she was speaking another language, so she forged ahead, turning to another display. “Now this one, this one is more ‘suave secret agent, but who has eyes for only his one true love.’ Sleek, but not too macho. I think this is the one.” She finished firmly.

“I’m not a secret agent or a lumberjack, Mindy. What the hell are you talking about?”

“I know you’re not a secret agent or a lumberjack, but they don’t have any ‘grumpy-hot doctors from Staten Island’ beds SO JUST WORK WITH ME!” Mindy yelled, exasperated.

“Okay, okay, fine. I cannot believe I’m actually having this conversation. Um…the secret agent bed, I guess,” Danny agreed grudgingly.

“YES! Finally. Okay. For bedding we’ll keep it simple. One set of white, one of grey and a maximum of four pillows, yes?” Mindy quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Yes, fine,” Danny replied.

As they made their way out of the store, burdened with bags of pillow and bedding, having arranged for the bed to be delivered later that week, Danny turned to Mindy and asked, “What does grumpy-hot mean?”

Mindy flushed a little. She hadn’t really meant to call Danny hot, but her mouth sometimes got ahead of her brain. “Well, you know, you’ve got all this,” she gestured casually towards Danny’s face and body, “happening, which is clearly, um, great. But then you talk and it’s like this 80 year-old man ranting about taxes and the state of America’s youth or whatever. It’s like, ‘eyes open – hot guy’, ‘eyes closed – angry grandpa.’ It’s very disconcerting.”

Danny just stared at her for a minute, until she shrugged and said, “Hey, you asked.”


	4. Chapter 4

Danny fumbled with the keys to his apartment, juggling the shopping bags, all of which he was now carrying. Mindy had declared exhaustion and near-starvation about 8 blocks ago, and was now enthusiastically munching on a corn dog as he struggled with the door. He finally succeeded in turning the lock, and stumbled inside, depositing the packages on the floor. He turned to say something to Mindy and almost got her corn dog up his nose.

“You want some? Mindy asked, waggling the corn dog at him.

“No I don’t want any. Do you know how many nitrates are in that thing? It’s going to kill you.” Danny replied.

“No Danny, it SAVED ME. From STARVATION, since you dragged me all over Soho without feeding me once.” Mindy replied.

“I dragged you?! I…” Danny gave up, having realized about 2 hours in to their afternoon adventure that Mindy operated on a logic all her own, and arguing with it was usually an exercise in futility, and it definitely required more energy than he currently possessed. “Okay Mindy, whatever you say,” he said resignedly.

“So what now?” Mindy asked, between bites of corn dog.

“I’m going to clean up the apartment, eat something, and then go to bed,” Danny replied wearily. The last 24 hours were really starting to catch up with him, and he figured he had at least a couple hours’ worth of cleaning ahead before his place was habitable again.

“Do you want me to stay?” Mindy asked tentatively. “I mean, realistically I probably won’t help with the cleaning, but I can hang out if you think you’re going to spiral in to another destructive drunken rage or something.”

Danny smiled half-heartedly, looking down at his shoes. “No thanks. I’m okay.”

Mindy shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. “Okay then. I’ll head out.”

Danny looked up as she turned towards the door. “Um Mindy?” She turned to look at him, eyebrows raised in a question. “Thanks for, you know, everything.” Danny stumbled, flushing to the roots of his hair.

“You’re welcome,” Mindy replied breezily. “But don’t think I’ve forgotten that we haven’t actually talked about what’s going on with you. Or about the gifts that I like.” As she made her way in to the hall, she turned to glance over her shoulder. “Lunch tomorrow.” It was a statement that brooked no argument, so Danny just nodded.

“See you tomorrow.”

***

Mindy glanced at her phone as she readied for bed, biting her lip in indecision. God, what was it about Danny that made her so unsure of herself sometimes? Usually she was pretty unwilling to censor herself (and maybe a little incapable of it too), but sometimes Danny made her nervous in a way she couldn’t really explain. 

She picked up her phone, deciding she was tired of second-guessing herself, and really once you’re seen a man lying in a puddle of his own drool what is there to worry about boundaries? Just a quick text to make sure he was conscious and not indulging in suicidal thoughts.

Mindy: You ok?

She held on to her phone for a second, waiting to see if Danny would respond. When he hadn’t replied by the time she returned from the bathroom she started to worry a bit. Please don’t let me have to conduct another rescue operation, she thought. I’m already in my pyjamas. When her phone gave the telltale ‘bing’ she let out a relieved breath.

Danny: Who is this?

Oh for the love of god. Mindy pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. How old was he?

Mindy: For christ’s sake Danny it’s MINDY

Danny: Sorry. I don’t use this much

Mindy: No kidding

Mindy: You didn’t answer me. Are you ok?

Danny: I’m ok

Mindy: ok. night

Danny: Goodnight

***

Danny had fully expected a barrage of questions about his absence when he’d arrived at the office, but nothing came other than a fairly sloppy kiss from Morgan and a, “We missed you Dr. C,” from Shauna and Betsy. Nobody seemed to notice his missing ring, and the lack of a wedding photo on his desk. He passed most of the morning without thinking about Christina, until he came across an old note from her in his desk. It was nothing important – just a list of things she’d wanted him to pick up on the way home one day. But the sight of her handwriting had been immediately followed by his last images of her, and the anger and hurt had hit him like a slap in the face. It was, of course, this exact moment Mindy barged in to his office to announce it was time for lunch. 

“Okay Danny, let’s go…” Mindy took one look at him and her voice trailed off. She closed the door quietly behind her and sat down across from him. She said nothing, just watching as Danny struggled to master his emotions. She realized something as she sat there though. Until the last 2 days she didn’t think she’d known anything real about Danny Castellano. Twice now she had seen how incredibly vulnerable Danny could look when he wasn’t in complete control of his emotions, and she knew she’d never seen that side of him before.

Clearly the humiliation of falling apart in front of Mindy was going to be an ongoing thing for him for the time being, Danny thought to himself. And he hated it. God how he hated it. It wasn’t her fault. She just had the bad luck to be there when it was happening, but he’d spent a lot of years figuring out how to control the image he projected to the world, and two times in the last two days the whole thing had dissolved in front of her. He didn’t trust himself to speak, so he just stared at his desk, hoping he could pull himself together through sheer force of will.

Mindy figured they’d been sitting quietly across from each other for a good 5 minutes, when she could see the shift in Danny’s posture that she was beginning to recognize as Danny being back in control. Without acknowledging what had just taken place she hopped to her feet, pasted on a smile and said “Come on Danny. The pizza truck awaits. Dough, cheese and greasy meat are just what the doctor ordered.”

“No doctor ever ordered anyone to eat that 5 cheese monstrosity you love so much,” Danny grumbled, not moving from his chair. 

Mindy examined him critically for a second, and said softly. “And sitting still and letting your heartache eat you from the inside out never did anyone any good either. Trust me Danny. Come on.”

Danny met her gaze for a second, then slowly got to his feet and followed her out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously you guys are the most awesome fandom to ever fan. You all are making this so much fun to write!

Danny had eaten lunch with Mindy every day that week. They never discussed it, but around lunchtime she’d just show up at his office door with an expectant look on her face, and a one-word declaration of what they were having. When she’d arrived on Thursday he’d hesitated a moment, raised his eyebrows at her and said “Again?”

She’d given an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. “Yes again, Danny. You said, like, four words to me yesterday at lunch so you owe me a meal that includes more than just monosyllabic grunts. Let’s go.”

On Friday he’d just gotten up wordlessly when she arrived, grabbing his jacket and following her out the door. If someone had asked him, he couldn’t have said why he was doing it. Sometimes he still wasn’t 100% sure that he and Mindy were even friends. He didn’t understand a lot of what or who she was talking about, and he knew he annoyed her a lot because she was constantly rolling her eyes at him and calling him an old man. But he also knew that she’d been kinder to him in the last few days than anyone he could remember in a long time. Truth was, he felt a little less bad when he was around her, and for that he was grateful. 

Because right now? A little less bad was as good as it was going to get. 

***

To: Danny Castellano  
From: Mindy Lahiri  
Importance: High  
Subject: GIFTS

Danny  
I realized today that I had not yet explained to you the best ways for you to demonstrate your undying gratitude for my friendship. For ease of use I have divided this guide in to four categories. Feel free to choose multiple items from each one.

 **Sparkly**.

While price is not a fool-proof indicator in this category, it’s a pretty useful tool for gauging whether or not I will like something. If it looks like it costs the GDP of a small country (or better yet actually DOES cost the GDP of a small country) there is a good chance I’ll like it. If you’re stuck, Fragments is not too far from your place. Ask for Angie – she knows me.

 **Scented**.

This one is tricky, as I enjoy many scented things but they must coordinate with each other in a way that is pleasing to the nose. AVOID THE DRUGSTORE AT ALL COSTS. I would suggest a visit to the Jo Malone store on Madison – they have all my vitals.

 **Sweet**.

This category includes all variety of sugary and delicious treats that I enjoy, including baked goods, chocolate and candy. I must warn you though, that unlike the other categories, it is best to not be seduced by the high-priced brands. I like my sweets as chock-full of sugar and preservatives as possible, so stick to the old standbys like your Hersheys and your Willy Wonkas. If in doubt, ask yourself if is something a 10 year-old would eat at the movies. If the answer is yes, you’re probably okay. Do not be wooed by chocolates in fancy packaging sold in boutiques by pretty girls who have clearly never eaten sugar in their lives. They are not to be trusted. The exception to the ‘fancy’ rule is French pastries – these are acceptable. But I swear to you Danny if you come at me with some bullshit chocolate with sea salt and rosemary I will cut you.

 **Salty**.

This one is simple. In this one area of my life feel free to treat me like the grossest of bros, watching football on a Sunday and scratching myself. If it contains dangerous levels of sodium and/or artificial pork flavouring you’re fine.  
Please remember Danny that you are both male and straight, and therefore variation from this list is not recommended. My apologies if this seems dictatorial, but experience has shown me that this is the best way to avoid frustration and disappointment for all involved, especially me.

Your friend,  
Mindy

Danny couldn’t help it – he laughed out loud.

***

Mindy had been talking since they left the office: in the elevator, the two blocks to the subway, the entire subway ride, and now she had followed him on to the platform of his stop. Danny wasn’t sure she even realized what she was doing. He needed to interrupt her before they got any further and she’d have to pay again to get back on the train.

“Mindy…” he started, but she was still explaining to him how she didn’t think it was fair that she’d had to change Chinese delivery places just because of that one time she’d been a little too friendly with the delivery guy.

“I mean, it was VALENTINES DAY Danny. The single cruelest day of the year for straight, single women everywhere. The day designed to make normal, successful, professional women feel like instant spinsters, and develop irrational cravings for hideous diamond necklaces made of two intertwining hearts. On a regular day I’d rather slit my own throat than wear a necklace of intertwining hearts, but on Valentine’s Day? Suddenly I’m sobbing in to my wine because some moderately handsome catalogue model just gave a moderately pretty catalogue model one on a commercial and I AM GOING TO DIE ALONE AND BE EATEN BY MY CATS. Which I don’t have, by the way. I shit you not Danny, Hallmark has an army of scientists working overtime in secret labs on new and insidious ways to make women feel like losers on Valentine’s Day. So sue me if I got a bit handsy with one cute delivery guy. Maybe I should call the ACLU” Only when she had finished her monologue did Mindy seem to realize that they were no longer walking.

“Mindy, that’s fascinating, and it’s probably a terrible injustice that you had to change Chinese places because of some mild to moderate sexual harassment, but we’re at MY subway station. You got off at my stop instead of yours,” Danny said, waiting expectantly for the realization of her mistake to dawn on Mindy’s face.

“I know,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m coming over to your place for dinner,” she continued, “You’re Italian, and you have that fancy kitchen with the gas stove and everything so I figure you like to cook. Plus I checked the schedule and you don’t have any procedures tonight and neither do I.” she finished with satisfaction. She stood there smiling at him, all white teeth, sparkling earrings and warm eyes, and Danny could only stare. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the strangest relationship he’d ever experienced. It would seem that he and Mindy were going to be friends, and it didn’t matter much what he thought about it.

***

For someone who liked to cook, it was hard to argue with the way Mindy showed her appreciation for her food. Each new bite had been greeted with a groan of ecstasy, or an “Omigod Danny this is SO GOOD,” and Danny had to admit he liked how much she’d enjoyed his cooking. When she’d finally finished and leaned back in her chair, sighing in satisfaction, Danny couldn’t help but smile a little. They sat quietly for a minute at the table, and only when he noticed Mindy fiddling with her wineglass did Danny take note of the slightly pensive expression on Mindy’s face.

“Um, Danny,” she began tentatively, “I know you’re not going to like this, but you really need to talk to me a bit about your break-up with Christina. I mean, you got through the week, which is huge and I’m super proud of you, but at some point you’ll need to talk about what happened. Otherwise it’s going to eat you up inside.”

Danny said nothing for what felt to Mindy like forever. Half of her was waiting for him to yell at her to get the hell out of his apartment and mind her own business. She’s pretty sure that’s what he would have done two weeks ago if she’d asked him to talk about something personal, but she was banking on the time they’d spent together this week to save her.

Shit. He still hadn’t said anything. Maybe she’d brought it up too soon. She was mentally sorting through acceptable excuses to leave before this got any more uncomfortable when Danny spoke.

“I caught her with someone else. In our bed,” he said quietly. He was staring at his hands, and he’d said it so softly that Mindy barely heard him.

“WHAT A FUCKING BITCH!” Mindy exploded, then immediately slapped her hands over her mouth. Danny’s head shot up, taking in the sight of Mindy looking vaguely horrified with her hands over her mouth, and actually smiled a little.

“Omigod Danny I’m sorry. That was…so not the right thing to say…but holy crap that is the shittiest thing I’ve ever heard and NO WONDER you were a drunken mess when I found you that night and JESUS CHRIST HOW DID YOU NOT KILL HER? And the guy. I’m sure you wanted to kill him too. FUCK I COULD JUST BEAT HER SENSELESS RIGHT NOW! Where is she? Did she go home to Jersey? We could make it there in, like, 45 minutes Danny, and seriously I WOULD FUCK HER UP. Do you want me to fuck her up?” Mindy was flushed, and pacing, and gesturing wildly, and despite himself Danny’s smile had grown wider and wider as her rant had gone on.

“No Mindy, I don’t want you to fuck her up. Well, maybe I do a little, but I’m too tired to drive to Jersey tonight. Thanks for the offer though,” Danny said, still smiling. Mindy had flopped back down in her chair and was fiddling with her wineglass again.

“Sorry about that Danny. I had this whole scenario envisioned where you could talk to me about your feelings, and I would offer some sage advice that would help you heal, or whatever, but instead I just threatened your ex with bodily harm. It’s not quite how I pictured it,” she finished, biting her lip.

“That’s okay Mindy. I appreciate your, um, enthusiasm,” Danny replied. “I feel better, honest.” And when she smiled at him from across the table, he really did feel better.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for how short this chapter is. It just seemed like the right place to cut it :)

Danny was surprised how easily he fell in to a routine with Mindy. Somehow in a matter of weeks he’d gone from a largely solitary existence (even he and Christina hadn’t spent much time together near the end) to one where he ate lunch with Mindy most days, and they usually spent at least part of the weekend together. He still thought they were perhaps the strangest friends in existence. In one way they seemed to have so little in common; they liked different books, different movies, different music. But Mindy was kind, and funny, and she pushed him to do and try things he normally wouldn’t, and that was a good thing, right? 

***

Mindy almost didn’t notice the little Walgreens bag on her desk, tucked between her tape dispenser shaped like a shoe, and her pink iPod dock. When it caught her eye she tugged it from its little resting place and read the sticky note attached to the outside.

_Mindy_

_I am pretty sure I’m breaking my Hippocratic oath by giving these to you._

_Dan_

Unravelling the bag she extracted a package of Twizzlers and some gummy worms. Ripping open the Twizzlers with a little squeal of happiness, she popped one in her mouth and headed to Danny’s office. She knocked once and poked her head around his door.

“Hey Danny. Thanks for the treats,” she said, waggling her half-eaten licorice at him.

“Are you eating them NOW?” Danny asked, the horror evident in his voice. “It’s 9am!”

“My bliss has no schedule Danny,” she replied contentedly. “Besides what the hell is the point of adulthood if you can’t eat candy whenever you want? All this hard work and responsibility has to be good for something, right? See you later.”

“See you later,” Danny replied, shaking his head.

***

“Hey Danny,” Mindy called as she opened the door to his apartment, “That deli around the corner didn’t have any pancetta so the guy sold me some double-smoked bacon and he said it would work. I had my doubts, to be honest, because I’m pretty sure that place is a front. There is no way that the same 3 beefy guys in suits would just happen to be hanging out there every time I go in.” She paused for a moment when she realized Danny wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room. “Danny?” she called again as she dropped her bags and made her way towards the bedroom. “Are you in here? Are you naked? Wait, no, you can’t be naked. I just called up and you buzzed me in, so unless you immediately stripped off all your clothes after you hung up you’re not naked. I’m coming in.” She eased the bedroom door open and peered around it. Danny was sitting on the side of the bed, still as a statue. “Danny?” she repeated, tentatively, “are you okay?”

When Danny raised his eyes to meet hers, it was immediately clear that he was not okay. Mindy rushed to the bed and sat down, reaching out gingerly to touch Danny’s shoulder. He moved almost imperceptibly towards her hand, and after a moment’s hesitation she put her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly to her. His breathing was ragged and she could feel the thump of his heart against her chest. She held him this way for some time, neither of them speaking, until she heard his breathing relax. She gently pulled herself away from him somewhat to better see his face.

“What happened?” she asked gently.

“Christina called,” Danny replied quietly, “She said she wanted to talk about a separation agreement, but seems like what she really wanted to do was tell me about what a horrible husband I was, how I was closed off, and uncompromising, and bordering on emotionally abusive. She said it was my fault she was driven to cheat on me because I was so cold.”

Mindy struggled mightily against the urge to scream, and curse, and threaten Christina’s life. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and said, “Bullshit,” in the calmest voice she could muster.

“Yeah, I’m not so sure,” Danny replied dully. “She was pretty spot on with some of her observations, and she has known me for 20 years, so she probably knows what she’s talking about”

“And I say again Danny…BULLSHIT,” Mindy stated emphatically. “I’m not saying you’re perfect, and I’m not saying Christina doesn’t know anything about you, but EMOTIONALLY ABUSIVE? YOU DROVE HER TO CHEAT? That’s a giant load of crap Danny. Christina cheated on you because she decided to. No one made her break her marriage vows and climb in to bed with some rando; that was her decision and I refuse to allow you to feel responsible. I REFUSE.”

Danny stared at her for a moment. “Why do you refuse Mindy? You weren’t married to me,” he said quietly. “Maybe I was horrible,” he paused for a moment. “But you always defend me.” He said it in a way that was clearly a question, as though it was a mystery to him why Mindy did what she did.

“DUH! Because I’m your friend Danny” Mindy replied. “It’s my job to be unequivocally on your side in situations like these, irrespective of logic or reality. That’s what friends DO. Although in this case your cheating ho of an ex has made it easy, but it doesn’t matter…I’m your friend,” she repeated. “When my next boyfriend dumps me because I violated his “boundaries” by hiring a PI to investigate his finances you can jump to my defence. Okay?” Mindy plopped her head on Danny’s shoulder.

“Okay Min.”


	7. Chapter 7

Danny eyed the prone form face down on the couch critically, “Min you should not have your face in that couch. It’s disgusting. Do you know what people get up to on that thing? That’s 10 years of bodily fluids you’re mashing your face into.”

“Ugghh Danny I’m too tired to care,” Mindy’s muffled voice came from somewhere in the cushions. “I have not left this hospital in 2 days, I think there’s something nesting in my hair, and I’m going to starve because the cafeteria’s closed and there’s only trail mix left in the vending machine.” She finally rolled over and flopped back dramatically, her hair splayed wildly around her head, an imprint of the couch cushion on her left cheek. “There’s no hope for me Danny. I know it will be hard, but you have to go on without me. You’re still young; you have so much to live for. Well okay, you’re not that young, but still. Save yourself.”

Danny rolled his eyes and shoved Mindy’s feet off the couch so he could sit down. She immediately lifted them back up and plopped them in his lap. “Fair warning Danny. Nothing about me smells very good at the moment and my feet are no exception.”

“I’m sure I’ll live, although those socks are ridiculous. Are those unicorns? How old are you?” Danny scoffed.

“I am incredibly youthful, despite my accomplishments. I’m like, Doogie Howser. Not that I was alive when that show was on because I’m clearly much too young,” Mindy replied defensively.

“So when can you go home?” Danny asked casually.

“I’m on call until midnight, so assuming none of my patients go in to labour…in about 5 hours,” Mindy sighed. “You done for the night?”

“Yeah. I just finished my last procedure. I’m heading out.” Danny patted her legs and started to rise.

“Fine. Go. Live your life. You’ll find my desiccated, yet somehow still stunningly beautiful, corpse right here on Monday.” Mindy sighed theatrically as her phone beeped. Heaving herself in to a sitting position she glanced down at it. “Shit. Gotta go. ER calling. Bye Danny.”

“Bye Mindy”

***

When Mindy returned to the doctors’ lounge an hour later, she was greeted by the smell of something garlicky and spicy, and her stomach grumbled loudly in response. Searching for the source of the delicious smell, her eyes landed on a white take-out container with a note attached.

_Mindy_

_Moving your corpse would be too much hassle for a Monday._

_Dan_

Mindy smiled blindingly at no one, and sat down to enjoy her dinner.

***

“Omigod she’s ALIVE!” Gwen declared in mock surprise as Mindy approached the table. “We were beginning to think you’d actually made good on your promise to move to LA and stalk Chris Evans until he noticed and inevitably fell in love with you.” Gwen smiled smugly and Alex snorted indelicately.

“Ha ha ha. I am not the one that got married and moved to the back of friggin’ beyond where it takes, like, 2 trains, a bus, and a horse-drawn cart to get there,” Mindy retorted. “And I wasn’t going to be a stalker. I was moving to LA to be a screenwriter, and Chris Evans was going to play the hunky but flawed lead in my romantic drama. After which he’d inevitably fall in love with me.”

“Well when you put it that way it sounds totally reasonable,” Alex deadpanned. “Seriously though Min, where have you been? We haven’t seen you for weeks.”

“Sorry about that,” Mindy replied, colouring a little, “It’s just that I’ve been really busy with work, and also Danny’s been having a really hard time? So I’ve been, uh, hanging out with him some and trying to help him through it.”

“Danny? The good-looking but kinda-angry, married guy from your office, Danny? Are you guys even friends?” Gwen asked incredulously.

“Well, not so married anymore, which is kind of the issue, but yeah…that Danny,” Mindy said. “And we’re friends. Or at least now we are. It’s kind of a long story.”

“Soooo…you’re spending all your time with a newly single hot guy, is that what I’m getting here?” Alex queried, raising her eyebrows. 

Mindy fiddled with the silverware a bit before answering. “No! I mean, well, yes, but it’s not like you’re making it sound. He just needs a friend, that’s all. There is NO WAY that we would ever…I mean…Danny totally doesn’t see me that way and I would never…his ex really screwed with him, you know?” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, we’re friends. That’s all.”

“Uh huh,” Gwen grunted, the skepticism clear in her tone. 

“Oh for God’s sake, let’s eat,” Mindy huffed, aggressively flipping open her menu.

***

Mindy was engrossed in a patient file when Danny popped his head around her door.

“Hey Min. You coming over for dinner tonight? I was going to make carbonara for you, and then we could watch something,” Danny said, arching his eyebrows.

“Danny why are you waggling your eyebrows at me like you just invited me over to watch hot gay porn, when what you’re really going to do is make me watch a 3 part documentary of the history of flight or some shit. It’s false advertising,” Mindy chastised him.

“It’s the history of the steam engine and it’s KEN BURNS SO IT WILL BE FASCINATING,” Danny replied hotly. “Wait…why would we be watching GAY porn anyway?” he asked in confusion.

“Cause the guys are hotter. Everyone knows this,” Mindy replied dismissively. “Anyway, as much as I love your carbonara, I can’t come over. I have a date!” she said, smiling.

“A date…that’s, uh, great!” Danny responded, clearing his throat aggressively. “Where did you meet him?”

“At the gym!” she replied brightly.

“The gym?” Danny couldn’t hide the skepticism in his voice. “You were at the gym?”

“Okay well technically it was at the yogurt shop that’s adjacent to the gym, but it’s practically the same thing!” Mindy huffed. “Anyway, his name is Geoff and he’s an accountant. We’re going out for dinner.”

“An accountant? Sounds like a laugh a minute,” Danny smirked at her.

Mindy stuck out her tongue at him. “Well it’s no history of the steam engine, but I’ll persevere!”

“Okay, well, have fun on your…date.” Danny finished lamely.

“Thanks. See you later.” 

***

Danny pressed the button one more time, and a slightly tinny version of Mindy’s voice echoed in the room.

_“Um, hey Danny, it’s Mindy? From the office? I’m sorry to be calling you but it’s just that you seemed not really yourself at work today, and I was a little worried that maybe something’s wrong. Um, so I’m just calling to check on you. You’re probably fine, but maybe you could call me and just let me know for sure you’re okay. Or alternately if you’re in the midst of some sort of crisis you could call me and we could, you know, talk about it or whatever. Um, okay, bye.”_

Danny slumped forward on the bed and rubbed his hands aggressively over his face. How many times had he listened to that message since the day he and Christina split? How many times had he marveled at the fact that, despite him never really having made an effort to be her friend, Mindy had known something was wrong, and had cared enough not just to call, but to come over and check on him?

He would not think about how much he wanted to hear her voice right now. He would not. He refused to accept that he needed this woman that much. Get a grip Castellano, he thought fiercely to himself. She's on a date. You can't call her. He leaned his head back against his headboard and closed his eyes.

_“Um, hey Danny, it’s Mindy? From the office? I’m sorry to be calling you but it’s just that you seemed not really yourself at work today…”_


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning - there is a little bit of smut herein!

“Hey Min. I come bearing pastry!” Danny called as he poked his head inside the door of her apartment. He shook his head at the fact that her door was unlocked, despite the fact that he would bet money on her being sound asleep. It was, frankly, earlier than he’d probably ever been here before, and if her date last night had gone, ahem, well, this was going to be very awkward. But he had driven himself crazy last night and he just couldn’t wait any longer to see her. Also, for reasons he was avoiding analyzing he NEEDED to know what had happened on her date. “MIN!” he called again, a little louder.

“What the hell Castellano!” Mindy cursed, stumbling out of her room, pyjama-clad and with her sleep mask pushed up on her forehead. “What the fuck time is it?” she asked dazedly.

“Um, about 8:30?” Danny replied hesitantly, looking slightly chagrined.

“8:30?! IN THE MORNING?!” Mindy shrieked. “Are you demented? Is there a gas leak in my building? Did Kim and Kanye break up? Did someone die? Why the hell are you in my apartment at this hour Danny? Jesus.”

“Ah, well, it’s a beautiful day, and also the croissants at the bakery near my house had just come out of the oven, so I was trying to get here while they were still warm,” Danny replied, painfully aware that he was rambling. Now that he was here he was realizing how strange it really was for him to show up at her apartment this early, but he truly hadn’t been able to help himself.

Mindy just stared at him for a minute, sighed, and with a muttered, “You’re a freak Castellano. I’m going to wash my face,” turned towards her room. “Don’t you dare eat those croissants without me or I will kill you with my bare hands,” she threw over her shoulder.

Danny’s body relaxed. He was here, and Mindy clearly hadn’t spent the night with the accountant, and everything suddenly felt okay. “Wouldn’t dream of it Min,” he said, smiling.

Mindy emerged looking slightly more awake, with her hair pulled back messily, still in her pyjamas. She grabbed the plate of croissants Danny had put on the island and flopped beside him on the couch, plunking her feet in his lap. Biting eagerly in to the flaky pastry she groaned ecstatically, “Oh god, chocolate. My favourite. And they are still warm,” she conceded, mouth full of croissant. “You’re mostly forgiven for showing up at my apartment at this god-forsaken hour,” she mumbled.

“So…” Danny began awkwardly, “how was your date?”

“Uhg. Yuck. We went to this Italian place and I ordered the carbonara because you put the thought in my head, but it wasn’t nearly as good as yours, so I was bitter and filled with regret.” Danny felt stupidly warm and happy at this remark, “AND my date spent the WHOLE TIME talking about his stupid self and his accounting practice.” Mindy continued, “It’s like, pro tip buddy YOU ARE NOT THAT FUCKING INTERESTING, AND NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE RECENT TRENDS IN AMORTIZATION PERIODS. I wanted to poke myself in the eye with something sharp just so I’d have an excuse to leave,” she finished dramatically.

“Sorry it didn’t work out,” Danny offered.

“No you’re not.” Mindy scoffed. “Now there’s no one threatening to steal your fabulous dinner buddy, who inexplicably remains friends with you even though you’re ancient and watch super-boring stuff on TV. You want me to die a sad, old cat-lady so that you’ll always have someone to complain about the terrible injustices of the municipal tax system to.” Mindy popped the final bite of her croissant in to her mouth and gave another small groan, “I think food is sometimes better than sex Danny. Don’t you?”

“I think you’re having lousy sex,” Danny replied jokingly, then realized with horror that he’d actually made reference to Mindy’s sex life, and flushed to the roots of his hair.

“I always have amazing sex because I’m hot as hell and have mad skillz, I’ll have you know,” Mindy replied indignantly, seemingly oblivious to Danny’s embarrassment. “Like, some crazy, tantric, kama sutra, 30 minute orgasm shit.” Mindy paused thoughtfully, “Although there was that time that I wrote an entire rude limerick about this mean girl in my residency while the guy I was seeing was supposedly bringing me to yet-unexperienced levels of ecstasy. In my defence though he was terrible in bed. Like, full-on jackrabbit sex every time. And the guy couldn’t find a clitoris with two hands and a map. That chocolate croissant was way better than sex with him,” she finished in satisfaction.

Danny had buried his face in his hands about mid-way through Mindy’s speech, and could now only mumble, “Can we please stop talking about your clitoris?” In truth Danny was trapped somewhere between horny and horrified. When Mindy has started talking about her sexual skills, images of her in varying states of undress and ecstasy had come, unbidden, in to his head. To his shock he’d felt himself start to harden almost immediately. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, these images had been immediately followed by a horrifying vision of some faceless guy pumping like a madman on top of her. How had his life come to this?

“Jesus Danny you’re a gynecologist. You should be able to handle the word ‘clitoris.’ What’s wrong with you?” Mindy popped on to her knees on the couch, poking Danny teasingly. “Clitoris!” she sing-songed. “Cliiiitttooorrrisss!!!” She continued to poke Danny’s abdomen, bouncing and laughing and shouting “Clitoris!” at the top of her lungs.

“Stop yelling ‘clitoris’ and for christ’s sake STOP POKING ME!” Danny grabbed both of her wrists while Mindy stared at him with a triumphant grin on her face, flushed and beautiful. In one swift move, he pulled her on to his lap, cupped her face in his hands and brought her lips down to his.

Mindy froze momentarily in shock, but almost unconsciously her body responded to the softness of Danny’s lips, and the urgency of his kiss. She gave in to the heat building low in her belly, and pushed herself more firmly against Danny’s groin. He moaned in to her mouth, and slid his hands down her back to cup her ass. Mindy tangled her right hand in Danny’s hair and pulled his mouth tighter against hers, sliding her other hand down over his abdomen, feeling the muscles rippling against her palm. She nibbled greedily at his bottom lip between kisses, and when his tongue found hers it sent shockwaves right to her clit.

Danny was so hard he hurt, and his hands wanted to be everywhere at once. He slid them up under Mindy’s pyjama top, and at the first touch of her soft, silky skin he wanted to die. He shifted his hips under her, needing desperately to feel her heat pressed as tightly as possible against his cock. She seemed to understand his need, and began rocking her hips slowly on top of him. He moaned again, leaning back against the couch and pushing himself harder against her.

Afterward, Mindy could not have said what it was that had stopped her. Only that in one moment she was overwhelmed with desire for Danny, desperate to feel him naked underneath her, and the next there was a cold knot of fear in her chest that froze her to the spot.

“Stop Danny,” Mindy pulled her lips from his, pushing back lightly against his chest. “Stop, please,” she repeated. Danny looked up at her in confusion, his lips swollen from kissing her, eyes still glazed with lust.

“What Min, what’s wrong?” he asked.

She shifted back a little further, “I…I don’t know. It’s just…why did you kiss me?”

Danny rubbed a hand over his face, trying desperately to find some coherence amongst thoughts that moments ago had been solely focused on how badly he wanted Mindy. “I, uh, I don’t know. I wanted to. It felt right. Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, NO! It’s just…you haven’t been with anyone since Christina, have you?” Mindy asked gently.

“No,” Danny answered cautiously, “but so what? Christina has nothing to do with you and me.”

Mindy shifted so that she was sitting beside Danny on the couch, turned slightly so she could still face him. “It’s just that I don’t want to be your rebound, Danny. And you’re entitled to one! You were with Christina for a long time and a rebound would be totally normal. I just don’t want to be that girl. I care about you Danny, and we work together, and if in a month you regretted being with me I don’t think I would handle that very well. So, I was hoping you knew why you were kissing me. That you’d thought about what you wanted from you and I. That it wasn’t just some impulse you gave in to,” she finished, dipping her head to try to catch Danny’s gaze. “Danny would you please look at me?”

Danny kept his gaze fixed purposefully on his lap, but Mindy could see the tension in his shoulders and the crease across his brow. He said nothing for a moment, and then rose without looking at her. “I’m going to go,” he said curtly, still avoiding her gaze.

“Danny you don’t have to go. I just want to talk to you about this,” Mindy said, rising to stand beside him. She put her hand on his arm in an effort to turn him to look at her, but he just shook her off.

“You’re right. This was a mistake. I’m going to go,” Danny had grabbed his jacket at was halfway to the door, Mindy trailing behind him.

“Danny really - don’t go. I didn’t say it was a…mistake,” Her last word was said to no-one, as Danny slammed the door behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short little chapter to transition us to what will (hopefully) be the final installment! Thanks so much for sticking with me and being the most supportive fandom ever!

This was officially the longest three weeks of Danny’s life. Feeling angry and humiliated about his encounter with Mindy he’d thrown himself in to work. He scheduled procedures for all hours of the day and night, and volunteered for on-call shifts until the attending told him he was burning out and should go home. It was a time-tested strategy with Danny. If things were bad in his personal life, he just worked harder, and when he eventually came up for air things would usually have resolved themselves. Admittedly not always in a way that made him happy (see: his cheating spouse and the end of his marriage), but he was largely at a loss for how else to deal with things.

He hardly saw Mindy at all. She had made one attempt to talk to him that first week, following him through the reception area to the door of his office. He’d blocked her from coming in, and told her curtly that he was too busy to talk, closing the door forcefully. Truthfully the look of hurt on her face had felt like a punch in the gut, but he simply couldn’t begin to imagine how to have a real conversation with her. After that she made no attempts to interact with him at all, beyond what was absolutely necessary for the practice.

But Danny’s biggest problem? It wasn’t working. AT ALL. No matter how hard he worked, no matter how many hours he spent at the gym, all he could think about was Mindy. The way her hair fell in a sheet of dark silk when she was leaning over reading a file. The sound of her voice when she was being a bit loud and crazy (he always pretended to be embarrassed, but secretly he loved her enthusiasm). Even the way she took over every space she was in, leaving little bits of herself behind, so that the days following her visits would be a mini scavenger hunt of Mindy treasures; a hair clip, an earring, a bright pink flowered to-do list that said only “Twizzlers.”

He hated himself for wanting her, and he hated himself even more for being too afraid to do anything to fix the mess he’d made.

***

Mindy was sad about what had happened with Danny. His friendship had begun to mean a lot to her, and truthfully she was very attracted to him, but she was also PISSED OFF. She couldn’t believe how immature he was being. It was crystal clear to her that he was embarrassed, and probably hurt that she hadn't jumped in to bed with him with both feet. But she would not be his rebound girl. She deserved better. Their friendship deserved better.

Now if she could only get the feeling of Danny’s lips on hers out of her brain, she’d be just fine.

Fucking Danny Castellano.

***

Danny didn’t think he’d ever felt this miserable. Even on the day he found Christina in bed with someone else he’d had his self-righteous anger to temper the feelings of hurt and inadequacy. But now, with Mindy? There was nothing but his own behaviour, the ways that he’d hurt her, their friendship that he’d sacrificed on the altar of his wounded pride. Mindy had been kinder to him than anyone outside his family had ever been, including Christina. And he’d ruined it.

Worst of all was the fact that she just wasn’t a part of his life anymore. He’d gone from a largely solitary life, to one that included what he could only describe as a best friend. He’d spent a lot of years convincing himself that not really needing other people made him strong, it made him self-sufficient; but what it really made him was lonely. He just hadn’t known it. And now that he knew the difference he couldn’t, he wouldn’t go back to life as it was before. 

There was also this niggling question that kept popping up and that he was desperately trying to ignore. What if he loved her? The three minutes of kissing Mindy was the closest Danny had ever come to bliss, and it terrified him. But being without Mindy terrified him more.

He had to fix this. How was he going to fix this?

***

Mindy’s brow creased at the sight of the small black and white gift bag on her desk when she arrived that morning. She hung up her coat and slowly made her way around her desk to get a closer look. There was a little note clipped to the side of the bag with a paperclip.

_Mindy_

_I’m sorry for how I acted._

_Dan_

With a strange feeling of dread building in the pit of her stomach she reached in and pulled a small box from its nest of tissue inside the bag. She lifted the lid gently to reveal a beautiful pair of drop earrings glittering up at her. They were gorgeous blue stones and crystals and there were totally her style. And they made her so sad she could only close her eyes. She stood there for a moment trying to regain her composure, before carefully tucking the box back in the bag, clutching it fiercely in her hand and making her way to Danny’s office. She knocked on the door, and waited for his “Come in,” before opening it, closing it gently behind her and making her way over to his desk.

“I don’t want this,” she said quietly, placing the bag on his desk.

Danny just stared at her, brow furrowed. “You don’t want it?” he echoed. “Do you not like the earrings? I went to the place you said and Angie was sure you’d like them.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like them Danny,” Mindy clarified. “I said I don’t want them.”

“But I don’t…you said…I thought you would…” Danny stumbled, running his hands through his hair.

“Danny you haven’t spoken to me in more than three weeks. You cut me completely out of your life because you were embarrassed about what happened between us, and you think that I am so shallow that a pair of sparkly earrings will fix that?” Mindy asked incredulously.

“I don’t think you’re shallow Min!” Danny exclaimed. “I just wanted to do something nice for you and you said that you liked sparkly things,” he trailed off uncertainly.

“Danny I don't want gifts for the sake of gifts.” Mindy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes she looked right at Danny. “I would want a gift that was part of our friendship. Something that you would just do because you cared about me and because we’re friends and because you want to see me smile. Not because you fucked up and don’t know what else to do.” She turned on her heel and walked purposefully out of the office.

Danny could only stare after her, fear coiling in his belly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all some much for sticking with this story and giving me such lovely feedback. It meant so much! 
> 
> Note the change in rating for this final chapter!

Danny didn’t know how long he’d been standing at Mindy’s door; long enough that he hoped there were no security cameras, or he’d be nabbed as some sort of stalker pervert. How in the name of god was he going to do this? He fumbled awkwardly with the paper in his hands, noting the creases where he’d folded and unfolded it. Weeks of fighting with himself about what he wanted, and worse yet trying to articulate how he felt about Mindy, all boiled down to a few sentences on this page. He was terrified to say any of it out loud, and even more terrified that it wouldn’t be enough. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Mindy?” he called, a little hesitantly. He waited for an answer, but none came. “Mindy it’s Danny. Can I please talk to you?” he tried again. Still nothing. He put his forehead against the door and closed his eyes. It had taken so much for him to come here tonight to talk to her; he’d really hoped she would be home. He tried one more time, “Mindy?”

After a moment he heard a quiet shuffling on the other side of the door.

“Danny please go home. I don’t really want to talk right now.” Mindy’s voice came through the door, sounding quieter than usual and a little defeated. “I’m tired.”

“Please Mindy. I really need to tell you some things. And I know it’s selfish but if I don’t say them now I might not be brave enough again, and I really want you to hear them. You don’t even have to open the door? Just…listen to me for a second okay?” Danny pleaded. He took a deep breath, leaned in so he was speaking to the crack in the door, and began.

“You were right Mindy. About the earrings. I bought them because I wanted to fix what I did, but I was too frightened and too immature to do it properly. You always seem to know the right thing to say. You know just what you’re feeling and you know just how to express it and I admire that so much about you. You probably figured this out a long time ago, but I…I have trouble letting people in…trouble telling people how I feel. So…I had to write it down. I made kind of a list of things I wanted to tell you. I know it’s maybe not that romantic, but I really wanted to make sure I remembered everything.” Danny paused and cleared his throat. “Mindy, are you still there?”

“I’m here,” she replied.

Danny cleared his throat again, tried in vain to calm his pounding heart, and unfolded the paper. “Mindy you are the best friend I’ve ever had. And I know I didn’t act like it. So there are some things that I need to tell you. To be honest I hope they’re things you already know about yourself, but just in case I wanted to make sure you heard them from me.”

“There are a lot of things to love about you Mindy. A lot of things that I love about you. I mean you’re smart, and beautiful, and funny; all of those things are easy to see. But what I love most is the way you treat the people in your life.” Danny paused and shifted a bit, trying to make sure she could hear him through the door.

“Mindy you have a kindness and a generosity that I can only stand back and admire. I don’t know how you give so much of yourself to people so readily. I don’t understand how you’re not afraid all the time that they don’t deserve it. Because sometimes they don’t deserve it Mindy. Sometime they’re going to hurt you. You gave me your friendship without me ever asking, before I even knew how much I needed it, and I…I hurt you.” Danny fidgeted with the paper in his hands. “I never wanted to but I did anyway. Please don’t let me be the one that closes you down. Don’t stop assuming the best of people, even if they don’t always deserve it.”

“I want to be more like you Mindy. I thought that keeping people at arm’s length was smart; that it would keep me safe. But it’s not smart. It’s cowardly and it’s lonely. You were the one that showed me that.”

“I thought about what you asked me that day I kissed you. You asked me why I did it and I wanted you to know that I know the answer now. I kissed you because for once in my life I actually wasn’t afraid of being close to someone. I looked at you, and instead of the millions of questions and doubts that usually run through my head there was only this feeling of certainty; of 100% certainty that you were worth it. That whatever risk might come from being with you was worth it. When you stopped me and asked me I panicked and shut down like I usually do; but that’s why I kissed you. Because I love you and you’re worth the risk.”

There was only the faint echo of Danny’s words in the hallway, and no sound from the other side of the door. Danny’s chest started to tighten as the seconds ticked by, and he realized that no matter what he’d said, it might not have been enough for Mindy to forgive him. He had pushed himself slowly away from the door, and was just about to turn towards the elevator when the door swung open. Mindy stood there with her arms crossed.

“Of course I’m worth it you idiot. Come here.” She grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him towards her, crushing her lips to his and wrapping her arms around his neck. Danny clung to her like a drowning man, so overwhelmed with relief and happiness he thought he might actually know what “weak in the knees” felt like.

It might have been minutes or it might have been hours; Danny couldn’t have said. But at some point Mindy broke their kiss, and pulled him further in to her apartment. She perched herself on the arm of her sofa and grinned up at him wickedly. “So you love me, huh?” she said, arching her eyebrows.

“Yes. I love you,” Danny replied moving closer so he was standing between her legs. Mindy sat up straighter and leaned in until her mouth was almost brushing Danny’s ear.

“Well guess what?” she whispered softly, “I love you too.” Mindy pulled back to look Danny in the eyes, and saw a softness and a warmth that she didn’t think she’d seen before. She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips, sliding her hands down to rest on his hips. Danny stepped closer, and tangled his fingers in her hair to deepen the kiss. He could feel the tension filling his body; the need to be closer to Mindy, to touch her, to taste her. When she moaned softly in to his mouth, what little control he had remaining snapped. He cupped Mindy’s ass with both hands and pulled her forcefully against him, feeling her warmth against his hardening cock and suddenly wanting more than anything to feel her skin against his. Mindy moaned again and wrapped her legs around his waist as he fumbled with the buttons on her shirt.

“Here, let me,” she said, whipping the shirt off in one swift motion. Danny inhaled sharply at the sight of her smooth skin, and her soft, perfect breasts swelling gently over the top of her lacy black bra.

“God Mindy you are so beautiful,” Danny groaned, his voice low and gravelly. He ran his hands softly from her shoulders, skimming lightly over her breasts and feeling her nipples harden under his touch. Mindy shivered and arched slightly towards him, aching to feel his hands on her breasts. Danny responded to the feel of her pushing against his hands, cupping each breast and rubbing her nipples delicately with his thumbs.

“Oh fuck Danny, come here,” Mindy demanded, crashing her lips against his. She was pulling desperately at his shirt, and heard at least one button hit the floor before she finally yanked it off him. She ran her hand down the now exposed skin of his torso and relished the feel of its smooth hardness. She didn’t stop at his waist, but skimmed down his thigh and back up to cup him, feeling him hard against her hand. Danny groaned and pushed against her, and she wanted badly to feel the hot smoothness of his cock in her hand; to feel him writhe and twitch under her touch. She opened his belt and with one swift motion pushed his pants down and freed his erection. 

When Danny felt her hand grip his cock he thought he might lose control, and when Mindy reached down with her other hand to cup his balls his head fell back, and an inhuman groan escaped his lips. “Mindy, oh god, you…oh god…you better stop…I can’t” Mindy just looked up at him from under her eyelashes as she leaned over and flicked her tongue over the head of his erection. Danny growled, grabbed her ass with both hands and lifted Mindy up against him. Mindy yelped and threw her hands around his neck as he kicked of his pants and carried her, still straddling him, to the bedroom.

They fell on the bed in a tangle of half-removed clothes and desperately clutching hands. When Danny finally succeeded in removing the last of her clothes, he paused for a moment to marvel at the beauty before him.

Danny had that soft look in his eyes again, and Mindy could only smile up at him, feeling strangely unself-conscious laid out in front of him this way. Danny ran his hands gently over the curve of her hip and down her legs, travelling back over the same territory as he slid himself up beside her. He continued to ghost his fingers over her flesh, eliciting small sighs and moans from Mindy. But when he pressed the flat of his palm low on Mindy’s belly and slid his fingers inside her, she bucked against his hand and grabbed his head to pull his mouth to hers. As he pushed his fingers deeper in to her slick heat, he felt his cock jump in response, and knew that he needed to be inside her. Mindy clearly had the same idea, as she groped blindly in her bedside table for a condom. Finally succeeding, she had it open and expertly rolled on him in moments, pulling him on top of her and grabbing his ass to pull him tightly against her.

He buried his face in the crook of Mindy’s neck, and took a moment to breathe in her scent, and relish the feeling of her underneath him. Gently removing his hand from her soft folds, he nudged her legs apart gently with his knee and slid himself slowly inside of her, pushing deeply, wanting to feel her surround and envelop him.

The first moment of having Danny inside her felt like the fulfilment of a promise. 

“Oh god Danny…oh” Mindy breathed, wrapping her legs around him and pulling him inside her until he could go no deeper.

Danny heard his name come from her mouth like a secret, and knew he was home. 

fin


End file.
